Muller Martini will close Newport News operations by Jan. 2012

160 will lose jobs

The manufacturer of book binding machinery and other equipment used by publishing companies said Friday that it will close its two Oyster Point production plants by the end of January 2012, resulting in about 160 job losses.

Muller attributed the closure to a sharp decline in business that began during the recession and never fully recovered.

In May 2009, the company laid off 79 workers – nearly a third of its local workforce – in an effort to keep the facilities viable through what it hoped would be a short-lived downturn in orders from its print-based customers.

"Unfortunately, the worldwide demand for print finishing equipment has not rebounded," the company said in a statement announcing the closure.

Muller, like other players in the publishing industry, has been battered by a gradual move of content online, resulting in a sustained decline in demand for its equipment.

The job cuts will come in three phases beginning in July. Affected employees will be given 60 days notice and offered assistance to find new employment, Muller said in the release.

Anna Rhodes, Muller's local human resources director, said she didn't know whether any employees would be offered severance packages or post-separation benefits.

"Details like that still have to be hashed out. This is all brand-new to us, too," said Rhodes, who has been with the company for 33 years. "There are a lot of long faces here today."

In the announcement, the company said it is exploring unspecified business opportunities in the region with the hope of re-hiring some of the employees who will lose their jobs.

Werner Naegeli, president and chief executive of Muller Martini Inc., did not return a call seeking comment.

Muller's two local plants cover 290,000 square feet in the Oyster Point Industrial Park, where workers produce book binding machinery and mail room equipment for publishing companies and other firms that produce catalogs, magazines and other printed material.

In 2007, the local plants employed more than 300 workers.

Swiss-based Muller expanded to the United States in 1973, building its first domestic production plant in Newport News. It subsequently expanded, building a second plant here and other manufacturing facility in Allentown, Pa., called Muller Martini Mailroom Systems Inc.

The Allentown operation, which provides equipment for the Daily Press' printing facilities, is expected to remain open.

Muller Martini

• Swiss-based company opened Newport News manufacturing facility in 1973.

• Plans to close both local production plants in three phases, beginning in July and winding down by January 2012.

• The plants, which employed about 300 as recently as 2007, laid off 79 workers in 2009. The 160 employees who remain will lose their jobs by next January.